Geodesic Cat Ears Jewelry Accessory

This beautiful piece of hair jewelry accessory, inspired by Himmeli sculpture and geodesic structure, is both fun and unique. Made from simple copper tubing and bead wiring, these deconstructed cat ears are super fresh and eye-catching. For lovers of geometric design and unique, modern jewelry, this mind-bending DIY piece is sure to win hearts and turn heads where you go!

Rock them at the next get together to really bring the party. Or making a match pair to give to your special someone. Better yet, make them with your best friends so that everyone in your squad can rock some amazing geodesic cat ears!

Note: I purchased all my materials and tools at Hobby Lobby and Amazon. You can certainly find most of them at any crafts retailer online or in-store.

At Hobby Lobby, I was able to find copper and aluminum tubing to make the gold and silver color pairs. If you look online, you can also order brass, gold, platinum, or you can invest in an airbrush gun and paint them all kinds of different colors. The possibilities are endless! Use your imagination.

List of Materials

1. 5/32 or .014 copper tubing 12 inches in a 3-pack x2

2. Bead wiring (about 30 ft. will be more than enough!)

You will find them in many weights. Medium or fine weight is recommended in order to fit through the tube in multiple loops.

3. A pair of hair comb (ideally < 1.5 inches in width each)

4. Transparent glue stick for glue gun

5. Fine-tipped Shapie

List of Tools

1. Ridgid 32975 1/8-Inch to 5/8-Inch Close Quarters Tubing Cutter

2. Jeweler wire cutter or scissors

3. Hot Glue Gun

4. Ruler

Using a fine-tipped Sharpie and a ruler, mark your 12" tubing into 1.5" sections. You should be able to get 8 pieces of 1.5" tubes from each 12" tubing.

36 pieces of 1.5" tubing

2 pieces of 1.75" tubing

Next, use the tube cutter to cut the tubes. Here's an instructional video on how to use a small tube cutter.

Note: It will take some patience at first to get a hang of tube cutting. It may also get tedious at times so take frequent breaks! If you have delicate skin, please wear work gloves for protection because I did get some redness on my finger from turning the copper tubes repeatedly.

Start by taking a long piece of beading wire (about 6 ft.) and start stringing three pieces of tubing to form a triangle. To secure the triangle shape, pull the wire through one of the sides and tighten. Next, take another three pieces of tubing and repeat the process.

You will keep adding more triangles until you have a structure that looks like the base above.

Note: You will only need to add two or only one piece of tubing at times because you are building upon triangular structures already in place. If you make a mistake, it's not a big deal at all! Simply remove the extra or misplaced pieces and start from there.

Patience is key and don't give up!

Once you have the base structure, take two pieces of 1.5" tube and one piece of the 1.75" tube to finish constructing the cat ear tip. You are going to connect the shorter tubes to the top of the base and use the longer tube to extend along the back of the ear as support.

Join the pieces together by pulling the wiring through the tubing and tracing the triangle shape through the tubes twice for added security.

Viola! You are half way there. You now have ONE cat ear! That's half the battle!

Take a break. Get up, stretch, drink some water, and come back when you are ready to do it all over again.

Note: If you run out of wiring, don't fret! At this point, the wiring is already completely secured on most of the structure. Simple trim the wiring at a convenient point, as close to the joints as possible to minimize the wires sticking out. Alternatively you can tuck the wiring into the tubes to hide them.

It should be much easier the second time around! You will make more triangles, just like in Step Three, with the exception that the left-side of the second base will connect to the right-side of the base that you already made. The rest is exactly the same!

After you have completed the base, attach on the cat ear tip just as you did in Step Four. Now, carefully clip away all excess beading wires that are still attached. If you have any areas that are loose, no worries! Simply get another piece of beading wire and secure that section by making several loops through the tubings around the triangular shape.

HOORAY! You now have the geodesic cat ears completed. Take a moment to enjoy this victory and pat yourself on the back before we make it ready to wear.

This is the last step. Congratulations on making it this far!

It's time to take out your hot glue gun and hair combs. Load the hot glue gun with a clear glue stick and wait for it to warm up. Squeeze a bit of the glue onto the top of the hair comb (with the teeth curving downward) and while the glue is still hot and soft, press it onto the right-most tubing on the cat ears. Repeat for the left-side.

Note: I choose black because I have dark hair and the hair combs better hidden. However, if you have a lighter hair color, try using clear combs or combs that match your hair color for best results!

YAY! You are now finished making your fancy DIY geodesic cat ear hair jewelry. Rock them at the next get together to really bring the party. Or making a match pair to give to your special someone.

Better yet, now that you know how to make them, teach your friends so that everyone in your squad can rock some amazing geodesic cat ears!